DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- There is not enough evidence to conclude that three people arrested with drugs and weapons posed a "true threat" to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, the Denver U.S. Attorney said Tuesday.
Suspects arrested in the alleged plot are, from left, Tharin Gartrell, Nathan Johnson, Shawn Robert Adolf.
Suspects arrested in the alleged plot are, from left, Tharin Gartrell, Nathan Johnson, Shawn Robert Adolf.
Troy Eid called the suspects "meth heads" who, because of their drug addiction, were likely not capable of carrying out a plan to hurt Obama.
Their alleged plot to harm Obama was apparently fueled by racism and was more "aspirational than operational," Eid said.
The suspects face federal and state charges in connection with the drugs and weapons, according to authorities.
An affidavit filed Tuesday cites an unnamed female informant who notified law enforcement that there was some kind of threat being made against Obama's life.
On Sunday, police in suburban Denver began investigating whether the suspects threatened someone at the Democratic National Convention, a federal law enforcement source told CNN Monday .
On the same day, Aurora, Colorado, police were conducting a routine traffic stop when they saw Tharin Robert Gartrell swerving and driving erratically in a blue Dodge truck with a Colorado license plate. An officer pulled over Gartrell and discovered the 28-year-old was driving on a suspended license and was on probation for possession of methamphetamine, according to an affidavit.
The officer arrested Gartrell and found inside his pants' pocket a small plastic bag containing 4.4 ounces of methamphetamine. A search of the truck turned up two rifles, a bulletproof vest, boxes of ammunition, several guns, hunting scopes, walkie-talkies and drugs, the affidavit states. One of the rifles was stolen, the document states.
Don't Miss
* See the KCNC interview with Johnson
* Complaint against Gartrell (PDF)
* Complaint against Johnson (PDF)
* Complaint against Adolf (PDF)
Authorities also found a "mobile" meth lab in the back seat, which included tools to make the drug, the document shows.
Gartrell was questioned about the items and denied knowing anything about them, claiming that his cousin, Shawn Robert Adolf, owned the truck. Adolf was staying at the Denver Tech Center Hyatt Hotel in Denver.
At the hotel, officers met Nathan Dwain Johnson and "an unknown female" in what they believed was Adolf's room, the affidavit states. Johnson allowed officers to search him and they found .91 grams of suspected meth in his pocket.
Adolf, 33, was arrested shortly afterward after he jumped from a sixth-story window at another hotel in Glendale, Colorado, Eid said. About 35 grams of meth were discovered in Adolf's room, Eid said.
Adolf is hospitalized and being held in lieu of $1 million bond for several outstanding warrants involving drug charges, according to The Associated Press.
The suspects face federal and state charges in connection with the drugs and weapons, authorities said.
When he was arrested, Adolf had a handcuff key in one hand and was wearing a swastika ring, a senior FBI official told the AP.
A KCNC-TV reporter asked Johnson whether his friends had made threatening comments about Obama. Johnson replied, "Yeah."
"He don't belong in political office or blacks don't belong in political office," Johnson said, according to KCNC-TV. "He ought to be shot."
Segments from the videotaped interview were posted on the KCNC-TV Web site.
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